The major components of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft—cruise
stage atop the aeroshell, which has the descent stage and rover inside—were
connected together in October 2008 for several weeks of system testing,
including simulation of launch vibrations and deep-space environmental
conditions.
These components will be taken apart again, for further work on each of
them, after the environmental testing. The Mars Science Laboratory
spacecraft is being assembled and tested for launch in 2011.
This image was taken inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., which manages the Mars Science
Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.